Romania will not modify the content of the intent letter to the IMF, President Traian Basescu announced on Tuesday, during a meeting with some businessmen from Italy, Romanian news agency Agerpres informs.

No substantial modification will be made to the intent letter to the IMF, President Basescu said. He underlined that the IMF proposed a VAT increase from 19 to 24% and an increase of the flat tax from 16 to 20%. The government decided no increase fiscality to relaunch the economy on the short term, Basescu said.

He reiterated that Romania would have been obliged to take up a new international credit worth 30 billion euro for 2 years, in March 2011 if the government would not take up the austerity measures. No politician likes to take measures against its own people, but there are obligations to the country.

We will continue to decrease budgetary cutes irrespective of the political costs and in the future we will be able to take up credits for development and not consumption, Basescu said. Moreover, Basescu reffered to the gas market by saying that Romania will regulate the gas price during the cisis to protect, at least marginally its citizens.